The Best Prime Lenses for Photographers on a Budget

Whether you prefer shooting with zooming lenses or prime lenses, there are plenty of lens options out there for everyone. Today we are going to focus on the prime lenses! Now, I’m not going to be focusing on just any prime lens options. Today, I’m going to help photographers out who are operating on a very tight budget. This is right up my personal alley because I do not like to spend a lot of money on a lot of lenses. Thus, I know where the deals in lenses are because I’ve scoured the internet looking for the best prices on the market. This is a list of the best prime lenses for photographers on a budget!

Rokinon 12mm f/2.0

Made just for mirrorless mounts is the new Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 NCS CS lens. It is available in Canon EF-M, Fujifilm X, Samsung NX, Sony E and Micro Four Thirds mounts. Its 35mm focal length equivalency for MFT cameras is 24mm, for Canon M cameras it is 19.2mm, and for the other three mounts, 18mm. With an f/2.0 maximum aperture, it is particularly effective in low-light capture and can control shallow depth of field for precise subject focus with pleasing out-of-focus backgrounds. It offers a minimum focus distance of 7.9″. The lens’s impressive optical construction consists of three Extra-low Dispersion elements, one aspherical, and one hybrid aspherical element. The nano-crystal coating is applied to the inner surface of the two front-most lens elements to minimize ghosting and flare and improve overall image clarity. The Rokinon 12mm accepts front filters and provides a 67mm diameter thread.

Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye

The NEW ROKINON 8mm Ultra Wide Angle Fisheye Lens with automatic focus confirm chip for Nikon is the most affordable 8mm Fisheye Lens in the market. It now includes an AE chip to confirm when the camera is in focus and to automatically sync aperture and exposure with your camera. It features the widest field of view over any other 8mm fisheye lens, and its build quality and optical construction are superb. The ROKINON 8mm lens is designed for Nikon digital SLR cameras with APS-C image sensors. For these types of cameras, it provides full-frame coverage – which means that pictures will cover the entire frame. It is also compatible with Nikon cameras that have a full-frame sensor. For cameras with full-frame sensors, the lens will produce pictures with a semi-circular image and close images will appear proportionately large for a dramatic effect. The ROKINON 8mm lens creates images with an expanded and exaggerated perspective and an extremely wide 180 Degree angle of view.

Samyang 14mm f/2.8

The NEW Samyang 14mm Ultra-Wide Angle F/2.8 IF ED UMC Lens is the highest quality affordably priced 14mm lens on the market. It is designed for full frame cameras and is fully compatible with APS-C cameras as well. Its build and construction are superb! The lens construction is 14 elements in 12 groups and features 2 ED lens elements, one hybrid aspherical lens element and one glass aspherical lens element. All of these lens elements combine to minimize distortion and chromatic aberrations. Your pictures are sure to come our razor sharp and clear, even at the corners! The Samyang 14mm lens features a remarkable 115.7 Degree angle of view on full-frame cameras and a 93.9 Degree angle of view on APS-C cameras. The lens is available for the following mounts: Canon EOS, Nikon, Sony Alpha, Pentax & Olympus 4/3. There are two Nikon versions; one version is fully manual while the second version features a built-in automatic focus confirm chip to sync and auto-meter with your camera.

Samyang 85mm f/1.8

The Samyang 85mm lens is made with mostly glass and aluminum components and the build quality is superb. Its focusing is silky smooth with an internal focusing (IF) mechanism so that the physical size remains constant during focusing. There are little or no chromatic aberrations and Bokeh is just about perfect. The lens comes complete with a removable lens hood, lens caps, lens pouch, instruction manual and one year warranty. The lens is available in the following mounts: Canon, Nikon with auto confirm chip, Pentax, Sony & Olympus 4/3.

Samyang 100mm f/3.1

On the heels of the recently introduced Samyang 135mm T2.2 VDSLR II Lens, Samyang expands its already impressive Full Frame Prime Lens lineup with the Samyang VDSLR II 100mm T3.1 ED UMC Digital Telephoto Macro Cine Lens. Highly versatile, the 100mm short telephoto focal length is great for portraiture and candids, while the close focusing ability to 12 inches, without the need for any additional accessories, provides ample working distance and a 1:1 (Life Size) reproduction ratio. This high speed telephoto cine lens features a circular 9-blade diaphragm for superb out-of-focus highlights (Bokeh), a non-rotating filter mount, high performance ED glass elements, UMC anti-reflective Ultra Multi-Coating, close focusing to only 1 foot and is tightly color matched to the Samyang VDSLR II lens system. In addition, the Samyang 100mm T3.1 Cine DS features de-clicked aperture control, standardized focus and aperture gear positions for quick lens changes with follow focus devices, calibration in T-stops, and dual calibrated right and left side distance and aperture scales. The 100mm T3.1 VDSLR II version is initially available in mounts for Canon EOS, Nikon, Sony E, Sony A and Micro 4/3.

Yongnuo 35mm f/2.0

Yongnuo fast EF 35mm wide-angle lens with it’s fast aperture of F/2 is sure to capture any moment even in the lowest lighting conditions.
It has a minimum focusing distance of only 0.8 ft. (25cm), so even if you’re close-up, you can still obtain that natural wide-angle effect.
It is affordable and ideal for anything that calls for excellent optical performance and moderate wide focal length.

Features: 1, Support auto focus (AF) and manual focus (MF) mode. 2,The aperture blades up to 7 pieces,which allows you able to shoot the near-circular diffuse plaques,appropriately narrow the apertures can shoot the 14 astral effect. 3,Adopts chrome high precision metal bayonet,which effectively improve the goodness to fit the camera body and the bayonet strength, wear and corrosion resistance for durable use. 4,Full line of the products are glass lenses. 5,Supports full-frame and APS-C format cameras,supports M/AV/TV/P and other camera shooting modes,and can be displayed the aperture data in the EXIF Information. 6,Multi-coated lenses,effectively improve the transmittance and suppress the ghosting and flare when in backlit shooting . 7,Adopts gold plating for the metal contacts,effectively improve the signal conductivity and corrosion resistance.